A variety of surgical stapling instruments perform circular anastomosis stapling operations. Examples of such devices and related concepts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,459 entitled “Surgical Anastomosis Stapling Instrument,” issued Apr. 27, 1993, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,544 entitled “Surgical Anastomosis Stapling Instrument,” issued Dec. 21, 1993, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,322 entitled “Surgical Anastomosis Stapling Instrument,” issued Jan. 4, 1994, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,945 entitled “Surgical Anastomosis Stapling Instrument,” issued Feb. 15, 1994, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,053 entitled “Surgical Anastomosis Stapling Instrument,” issued Mar. 8, 1994, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,773 entitled “Sealing Means for Endoscopic Surgical Anastomosis Stapling Instrument,” issued Aug. 2, 1994, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,104 entitled “Sealing Means for Endoscopic Surgical Anastomosis Stapling Instrument,” issued Sep. 27, 1994, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,661 entitled “Sealing Means for Endoscopic Surgical Anastomosis Stapling Instrument,” issued Jul. 9, 1996, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
While several medical devices have been made and used, it is believed that no one prior to the inventors has made or used the invention described in the appended claims.
The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the technology may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present technology, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the technology; it being understood, however, that this technology is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.